Plant Doll
by MyDearGoddessofthemoonandsun
Summary: Everyone thought that Tenzo was the only survivor of the 60 children experimented on by Orochimaru. Everyone was wrong.
1. Bud

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime.

**Bud - Early stages of development of a flower or plant growth.**

Note: Recently edited it a bit. Feedback is welcome!

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Prologue

Most people are born to a loving mother and father, others might be born to just loving fathers or mothers, and then there are others whose parents aren't so loving at all. Some lose their parents young and become orphans, waiting for the day they either get adopted or are old enough to support themselves; others are also made orphans but instead are given away to other relatives and friends. All of these children came from the union of one woman and one man, regardless of how and who their families ended up being. I was once like them; I too was once made from such a union, but all that changed when I was taken in by a very important person, one who I would respect, love, fear and eventually hate with all my being.

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The senses of touch, of feeling weightless and surrounded in a cool liquid, were the first sensations that pierced into my groggy mind. Sound was the next sense to muddle its way into my consciousness, in a very annoying but constant way.

**Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.**

_'…Huh?'_

**Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.**

_'__What…what is that sound?'_

**Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.**

_'…__Water? Am I in water?'_

**Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.**

_'My eyelids feel so heavy...why can't I open my eyes?'_

The sound of dripping water would keep my company for an infinite period of time. It could have been hours, it could have been days or it could have been just a matter of minutes. However long it was, it would be quickly disturbed by a sudden sibilant voice, breaking apart my solitude.

"How is our patient today doctor? Everything developing as planned?"

"Yes Orochimaru-sama; in the beginning it was touch and go for a little bit but everything managed to work out just fine. We were unsure if she would be able to survive the process of accepting the First's DNA into her body, as many of the other subjects fought of the intrusion and died in the process of rejecting the foreign chakra, but after a small initial struggle, this one has managed to accept it beautifully."

"So this batch might hold a possible success in activating the Mokuton?"

"Yes sir. If this experiment manages to wake up with minimal defects we will place her with the rest of the promising batch and have training and education commence immediately. A written report of their learning rate and development will be ready in hopefully 2 weeks from now, making your regularly scheduled information packages of your research ready for delivery to Danzo-sama, right on time.

The smooth, sly voice and a raspy, young voice were conversing nearby my body_. _

_'Batch? Learning rate? Subjects?'_

"Excellent. Fufufufufu! Danzo will continue our founding so long as we keep producing valuable information. Now, is she ready to awaken? Many of the others have failed to awaken at this point, and I can't keep wasting valuable time and effort on a subject that won't wake up. If the ability to wield the Mokuton is not found within her in the next couple of blood and physical tests then get rid of her, I have no use for her otherwise, Fufufufu!"

A loud noise suddenly pierced the room and a strange, warm, heavy, energy started to invade my body, forcing my own energy to move faster inside me, giving me more strength in return. With this new strength, I struggled to use it to open my eyes and try and figure out where I was.

"That's it. Wake up my dear, open those pretty eyes for me. That's a good girl," cooed the sibilant voice.

Squinting my eyes open, the sudden bright light made it take a couple of seconds for me to adjust and be able to focus on the face staring at me through a glass wall. Long silky black hair framed a too pale face with golden eyes and purple stripes on their eyelids.

"Welcome to the world, my little doll."


	2. Systemic

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime.

**Systemic - A chemical which is absorbed directly into a plants system to either kill feeding insects on the plant, or to kill the plant itself.**

Note: added an extra scene or two. Feed back is appreciated!

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Chapter 1

Time is a funny thing living underground, since you can't time it by the position of the sun in the sky. It's just a number controlling your daily schedule; in fact there are lots of numbers controlling all of us underground; like stats, experiment numbers and subject numbers. I quickly learned that I was part of batch #50-60, subject #52; one of the last subjects to be experimented on. In regards of the snake-like man that had woken me up; he is seen by us subjects as our creator and master, while in the eyes of the other scientist and ninja living down here with us, he is the snake Sannin, Orochimaru-sama.

He has much hope in the last 2 batches experimented on, since many of my fellow subject numbers were successful in waking up from the injection of the First Hokage's DNA cells. However at least 30% of us have already quickly died from both the training we were put through, side effects from all of the experimentation on our bodies, such as brain haemorrhaging, along with other physical and mental defects. Roughly 30% of the others had yet to awaken and the 40% left, my group, are currently in the process of going through our final tests on whether we are capable of using and mastering Mokuton or not. All of us remaining test subjects have survived the injection process; however, the cells are currently lying dormant at the moment.

Some of us have already showed physical side effects of the injection process, such as hair and eye colour changing into white/green or parts of the skin changing into a white, creamy looking colour. On my left wrist and right ankle, I have a small spot of skin that had turned into that white creamy colour. It was considered one of the milder physical side effects compared to the others more extreme transformations.

All of us have lost most of our memories of "before" our awakening in the labs, and a common pastime among us subjects is to guess who we used to be? Personally I don't care very much about who I was, my concern has always been on who I am and who I am going to be, but what we all do know is that most of us had at least already been instructed on how to mould our chakra, along with being able to identify and develop our elemental chakra affinities.

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"Test subjects still alive will proceed for final testing" the same doctor who was there at my awakening had returned to announce and escort us to Orochimaru-sama.

A trickle of fear gripped my heart and a cowardly thought popped into my head.

_'Please. I don't want to die yet. I'm not ready.' _

My (traitorous) legs started to tremble and a light sweat broke on my face. All of us knew that death was always a strong possibility with each of the tests we were put through.

"All of you lay down on each table before you; I will be strapping you in and hooking you up to the various machines at the side. Orochimaru-sama will arrive shortly and give some final words before we commence this final test" the doctor muttered, as he quickly hooked us up to the machines and made sure we were unable to move on the tables.

The pressure in the room was intense, but none of us dared to make a sound. After what felt like hours, the door finally opened and Orochimaru-sama slid into the room.

"My most promising subjects, it has been a long time coming but soon this little experiment of mine will be coming to an end. While none of you have yet to show that you can successfully control the Mokuton, my research into it has expanded so at least something worthwhile has come from this. I will now be forcefully activating the dormant cells within you, those who manage to control it and use Mokuton Release to get out of your bindings will live, and all others who fail to do so will unfortunately die. Good luck and thank you for your sacrifice." his cold voice echoed in the room, and with one last glance he flicked the switch and turned on all of the machines.

Blinding pain coursed through me; I could vaguely hear the screaming of the other subjects —Children! We are children!_ —_and distantly noted that some had already become trees or had flat lined from the pain. My body felt like it was on fire, and I could feel my chakra change into something lighter, brighter, stronger than my regular chakra…life energy? The white skin on my wrist and ankle started to wildly spread across the rest of my body like a horrible rash. In its wake small plants and vines began to rip through my skin and grow at an alarming rate.

_'__Oh gods! Make it stop! Please, PLEASE, PLEASE!MAKE IT STOP!'_

Darkness was filling the edges of my sight and my erratic heartbeat was going faster and faster. Branches and trunks filled the room and crushed me to the wall, successfully ripping me out of my binds. Leaves and flowers bloomed on my face and neck, essentially cutting my supply of air. Then…everything went black.


	3. Erosion

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime.

**Erosion - The wearing away, washing away, or removal of soil by wind, water or man.**

None of my current chapters are beta-ed. Please excuse any grammer mistakes.

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Chapter 2

**Drip. Splat. Drip. Splat. Drip. Splat.**

_'...huh? I'm alive?'_

**Drip. Splat. Drip. Splat.**

_'...is that water..?'_

**Drip. Splat.**

_'No….it doesn't sound right...'_

Forcing my eyes open, I quickly adjusted to the lack of light and managed to make out what the looming shadows around me were. Gasping, I saw trees upon trees, all compressed and squished together in the room.

_'But where did that noise come from?'_

**Drip. Splat. Drip. Splat.**

Gently turning my head I found the source of that dripping noise. Eyes widening and tearing up, I let lose a small whimper. Impaled on one of the branches was experiment subject #58, the youngest member in our batch at 5 years of age.

His blood was dripping down his legs and landing on the little bit of tile not destroyed by the roots and branches of the trees.

Trembling, I looked away from his body and glanced down at my own. My clothes were ripped apart by the flowering plants and flowers growing out of my skin. The white creamy texture had spread and covered most of my body. From what I could see, the white skin had spread from my right toes to my right knee, left thigh to my left knee, right fingers to right elbow and left shoulder to left elbow. My torso was a mess of growing flowers and from what I could feel, my neck and parts of my face were sprouting them as well.

"Ahhhh! W-what happened to m-my body?!" sobbing, I slowly got up and started to carefully crawl through the small gaps between the branches, roots and trunks of the trees. The leaves and flowers on my face and neck, along with the ones on my torso, were slowly scraped off by the smaller branches and rough bark. Instead splinters and cuts took their place, but this was a minor annoyance to me, after all I had developed a high tolerance for pain under Orochimaru-sama's care.

Bits and pieces of the remains of the other test subjects who didn't turn into trees littered the lower roots and branches. Unfortunately, the only way out of this bramble of wood and leaves was passing through some of the lower branches and roots. As I slipped between the gaps my body slowly grew more and more covered in blood and pieces of loose flesh. The salt of my tears and sweat mingled with the smell of iron and wood, forever being burned into my mind as a link to this needless massacre of children. 10 minutes later and I was finally able to make it to the broken down door, quickly peeking at the corridor for any signs of Orochimaru-sama or the scientists who had worked with him.

A dark chasm loomed from either end, cobwebs and dust being the only thing I could make out on the floor and corners. Just how long had I been unconscious?

_'This is strange, surely they didn't leave us to rot in that small room….they would have least taken our bodies with them..wouldn't they? ….Didn't they say we were important specimens that at least would further their knowledge on Mokuton and the effects on the body?! That we would never be left around to rot since our bodies could give them information that they had failed to attain in our life?...that our sacrifice was important!?'_ in my growing hysteria I managed to find the strength to run down the corridor to the main lab where most of the scientists would be working.

_'There must be a reason why they didn't take us out of that room! There must be a good logical reason!'_

My footsteps echoed in the darkness, the sound helped feed my growing sense of dread and reaching the door, I managed to rip it open and dart inside.

"N..no! No! I don't get it?! Why Orochimaru-sama?! WHY?!" My legs wouldn't support me anymore, thus making me collapse to the floor. I leaned forward so I would rest on my knees and began to vomit.

Inside this dark, cold laboratory, laid the severed bodies of all the scientists and ninja who had been working side by side with Orochimaru-sama. It looked like no one had been spared at all. Feeling drained, I crawled to the wall and leaned against it,my sobs echoed once more in a room filled with the dead.

"Heh...l-looks like I-I'm forming a habit….crying pathetically like this with dead people all around me…..ha..haha...hahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Distractedly, I noticed that the cuts on my body were burning and slowly closing up, but I just couldn't bring myself to care at the moment. My mind had finally managed to process everything that happened since my final meeting with Orochimaru-sama. Finally, finally it had sunk in on how little we all had actually meant to him. All of us were just things to be used, and discarded when no longer useful. All of those lies on how we as the remaining subjects were special and gifted, that we were superior to the others due to our survival. How valued the entire team of scientists and ninja were, how we ALL were…..and how much Orochimaru-sama wished that we could all survive his tests, even though most of us wouldn't. Because...because they were necessary, because they were for the good of the future generation and the village. That the end would justify the means….all of it...all of this….was nothing more than one ...BIG ….. FAT…STUPID… LIE.


	4. Dethatch

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime.

**Dethatch - Process of removing dead stems that build up beneath lawn grasses.**

Note: This work is not beta-ed. Please excuse any grammar mistakes.

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Chapter 3

I don't know how long I stayed against that wall, in that room full of dead people that I used to know. My will and drive to live was shot. Everything I had ever known, everything I had ever believed in was nothing but a lie. What did I have to live for now? A man who I once looked up to and respected, nothing but a monster and a liar. A village that I used to believe was worth sacrificing for, was just rotten to the core, considering how one of the head advisers to the Hokage had a hand in this. Just how far did that corruption go? Was the Hokage in on this too? Oroch-...no, **THAT MAN** was his favourite student… just how safe would someone like me be here? Would I just be used and discarded again? A political tool? …sigh.

Looking idly down, I gently traced my fading scars with a fingertip. Tears welled up my eyes again as I pondered on what all of those experiments had done to my body and what that possibly meant for my future.

_'Just what did **that man** do to me?'_ chuckling bitterly I noted that the white skin had spread a bit more, at least a millimeter. The more agitated and active my chakra was the more it seemed to spread. Looks like it was tied to my chakra fluctuation, which meant that any hope of me using genjutsu, ninjutsu or elemental chakra (including attempting to try Mokuton again, regardless of lack of control) was gone. Which only left me with Taijutsu, not very promising odds for me to escape the village with just that.

I could feel that bubbling sense of madness growing and being suppressed inside me. I had cried and laughed enough at the world, myself and all the poor idiots who had dared believe that man's lies on how what they had been doing was the 'right thing', for today.

"Saaah, what a horrible situation. I wonder if this is what they call 'ironic karma'?"

I watched** that man** do so many horrible things, to my comrades and to my body. I allowed myself to be convinced by him and the others that we had to do horrible things to each other as well, all for the sake of furthering important knowledge and the future of this village. What a joke.

Close to the right corner of the room laid the severed head of one of the sweet-faced scientists, her name was Talho. She had always been kind to all of us experiments and had such zeal in her belief that every horrible thing that we were doing would one day be forgiven; since it was for the sake of the village and furthering the understanding of an important bloodline. It was her and the others conviction and unwavering belief, that gave me the courage and faith needed to survive **his** tests. Now look where this belief had left us? Betrayed and dead.

"What should I do now Talho-san? What do I live for now? You used to have all the answers, but now you're gone. And to make matters worse I just can't stop crying...heh...what a pathetic sight I must be."

Regardless of my current lack of resolve, I knew that if I wanted to escape** that man**'s hands, I would have to leave the village. He had too many faithful followers among the ranks, along with enough connections with the elite power holders in the village to make smuggling me into his clutches too easy.

Crawling towards the closet, I grabbed a big dark coat with a hood and put it on.

After making some quick adjustments on the length of the sleeves I was ready to find away out of this nightmare hole.

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30 minutes later and I had gone through nearly all the rooms of the underground laboratory complex. The entire place was abandoned and covered with a light layer of dust everywhere. Ninja and scientists who had not been among the bodies with Talho-san, lay dead in various other rooms. Orochima-…**that man** is very thorough in his execution, that's for sure.

'The main entrance is far too risky for me to use, but I'm sure that there was a spare map marked with the hidden exits around here somewhere.' Slowing to a stop I glanced at one of the final rooms that I had yet to enter.

_'I know this room...this is the room where I was 'reborn' into the service of Oroch-...**that man**. How nostalgic.'_

Test tubes filled with suspended dead bodies littered the place. Some were smashed open with the forsaken children slowly rotting away, while others managed to remain intact. Working my way to the back of the room, I noticed one test tube that had been smashed open with large wooden trees.

_'Mokuton?...could...could it be that there was another survivor?! One who managed to use Mokuton to escape?!'_

Jumping on to the wooden bark and running on it through the hole in the wall was a little trickier without using chakra to stick to the surface. However I had been trained by Oroch..that man for a while at least, so it wasn't nothing I couldn't handle. Slowing down before reaching the exit, I decided to risk the spreading of the white skin on me in exchange for trying to sense any chakra signatures nearby. While there were some exceptional sensors who did not have to use much if any chakra at all to pinpoint people, I was not one of them. No, in my case I used my chakra like a bat used echolocation, having it bounce off objects then back to myself with the acquired information. My body was already a screwed up mess anyway, what was a little more in the grand scheme of things?

Taking a calming breath, I slowly built up a small portion of my chakra into my palms. A weak frontal wave of chakra would be a better solution then having me send out a 360 wave of strong, built up chakra. This would be less likely to trigger any traps that man had set up for intruders outside of the gaping hole and in the surrounding grounds.

_'Okay, 3..2..1! **Release**!'_ Immediately after I sent the chakra wave, a burning sensation took over my body, forcing me to my hands and knees.

_'It burns! It burns! It **BURNS! IT BURNSSS!**!'_ mentally screaming, I forced my teeth to bite my lips in the hopes of muffling my sobs and screams.

The white skin spread at least half an inch more over my body, along with converting my remaining built up chakra to life energy. This triggered small plants to poke out of the white covered parts of my body. Mentally panicking, I quickly clamped on my chakra and suppressed it as much as I could. I could not afford to die here, not when there was now hope that I was not the only one to survive.

Collapsing from exhaustion, I carefully began to tear away the plants from my face, neck, torso and legs. My sacrifice was worth it though; now I was sure that no one was outside lying in wait for a possible survivor. But I wasn't in the clear just yet, the traps that lay on the grounds could still be there, for all I knew. Not to mention the task of trying to find my 'sibling' among the people of konoha and getting him and myself out of it, was going to be a pain and a half. But at least I had a goal now and that would have to be enough.

_'I swear to you, my sibling. I will find you and I will keep you safe from that man's reach. And together, we will live free.'_


	5. Pollination

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime.

**Pollination - The transfer of pollen from the stamen (male part of the flower) to the pistil (female part of the flower), which results in the formation of a seed. Hybrids are created when the pollen from one kind of plant is used to pollinate and entirely different variety, resulting in a new plant altogether.**

Note: This work is not beta-ed. Please excuse any grammar mistakes.

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Chapter 4

Getting out of that area was easier said than done. I managed to not trigger the chakra based traps but anything else was fair game. Kunai, shuriken and senbon littered the ground, along with some dead snakes and ligers. My strength may not be as great as some of the other kids but my speed was nothing to sneeze at. Still, I sported a couple of cuts and bruises, not being skilled enough to escape unscathed. Tearing the rolled up ends of the coat I used them as makeshift bandages to stop the blood flow from my wounds. Glancing at the sky I was mesmerized by the streaks of red, orange, purple and blue that painted the sky. This must be what Talho-san called 'twilight' and the bright dots in the sky must be the 'stars'. Trees were common in the lab, since the whole point was to affect them with our Mokuton release, but things like the sky and gentle warm breeze was all foreign to me. Quietly walking down a worn path I could see some buildings peaking over the trees nearby.

"That must be the village up ahead," I murmured under my breath. I have no memories of the village or the people within it, all I know are the names of the current Hokage and his advisors, the different levels of shinobi and a couple of basic things such as how the hokage tower and the academy look like. The shinobi who had worked under that man really wanted us to know for who we would be working and sacrificing ourselves for. Now I wonder how much of it was fact and how much of it was fiction. Reaching the edge of the forest, I admit this was not what I was picturing when I thought of the 'village'.

The buildings were decorated with lanterns and red fabric everywhere. Signs and prices for tea shops could be seen at every corner while giant inn like houses with beautiful women and men at the doors covered the streets. Some giant looking houses had scantily dressed men and women posters on their walls with a booth at the front door. In the darkened corners I could see scruffy looking men creeping about and dirty barefooted children ran around the back alleys.

_'Where was the Hokage tower? the academy?'_ puzzled by this, I wandered closer to the houses while keeping to the shadows. I noticed some ninja jumping from roof top to rooftop, while others entered the houses. Civilian men were also wandering around, chatting to the young women and men outside the doors and even to some just standing on the streets. Even though I couldn't catch them looking at me, I could tell that some ninja were glancing in my direction. The hairs on my back were standing on end and a light sweat began to break on my brow, I needed to hide and get out of their line of sight.

As casually as I could be I began to walk to the back alleys and joined the group of kids that were running around and making a nuisance of themselves. Luckily some of them had shabby looking coats too and were using them as aids for hide and seek or even stealing them from each other and running off further into the back alleys. As I travelled further into this group of kids I could feel those gazes lose their intensity and eventually disappear completely. The children playing around me glanced my way as well but seemed to not care as long as I wasn't in their way while the ones who were stealing coats from the others seemed to decide that my coat was too torn up to be worth stealing compared to the more 'whole' ones the other kids had.

Making it to the other side of the street, I leaned against the wall and slowly slid behind a barrel and onto the ground. Finding my 'sibling' in this village was gonna be harder than I thought. Suddenly sharp moans and groans penetrated the air and distracted me from my train of thought. Peeking around the barrel I saw a young woman being pushed against a wall by an older man, her long legs bare around his waist and her head thrown back against the wall.

_'What on earth are they doing?...is he hurting her?...no…..her pupils are dilated and her fast heavy breathing suggests a quick pulse. Is...is she enjoying being pushed against the wall?'_ the moans seemed to get louder and louder while the man pushed her harder and harder, his hands were grasping her waist strongly enough that I knew it would leave bruises in the morning. With a last long moan and groan the man shoved the tired looking woman away and dropped some coins on the ground as he fixed his pants and left the alley.

She noticed me staring at her while she collected her coins and put them away in a purse.

"Come out little voyeur. Did you enjoy my show?" her pretty red lips curled into a smirk and her bright doe brown eyes narrowed into something more cruel.

Cautiously stepping out into the light I noticed that her parts of her white makeup was running down her cheeks and neck due to her sweat and her previously neat bun was a mess due to her thrashing her head against the wall. Her kimono was a pretty purple with pink cherry blossoms covering it and was hiked up to her knees while gently slipping off one shoulder. Hints of scarring were peeking out from her knees and from the shape of them, they must travel further up her body She must be around her late teens early twenties yet there was something in her eyes that bugged me.

Something that reminded me of some of the shinobi in the lab and the children that I once knew. Something that I know was in my own eyes too. It was that something that compelled me to do something I hadn't done in a long time; attempt to converse with another person.

"What was that man doing to you? And why did he give you those coins and leave you at the end?"

A quick look of shock was thrown my direction before a sharp laugh filled the air.

"Hahahaha! What a question! My, my, is this the first time you've come into the red light district and met a prostitute little one? You should hurry home back to your mommy and daddy...wouldn't want you to end up just like me now."

"...what are 'parents'? And why did you avoid my question?" This woman was no threat to me, while definitely bigger she lacked the necessary muscle tone to overpower me.

"Orphan, huh? Now that you're in the light I can see that you're also one with an unfortunate face...you poor thing" a wry grin played on those ruby red lips and something seemed to soften in her gaze. "Well, to answer your questions parents are like guardians but not all guardians are parents and a prostitute is a person who sells their body for money, specifically in terms of sexual activities. Some of the higher paid ones get the 'honor' of being called courtesans and gaining a form of education, but in my opinion a whore is still a whore regardless of title. That man you saw was my landlord and I just got myself more money to get a decent meal for the next two weeks or so . And before you even begin to ask why he had sex with me here and not in a hotel or brothel, cause I can see the curiosity shining in your eyes…well, his wife has connections to a lot of the hotels in this area and she wouldn't be too pleased to know that her husband likes to visit me behind her back, so lets keep this a secret between women, neh?" Giving me wink, she began fixing her hair, " Not to mention I happen to be a 'self-employed' prostitute, so my clients aren't as secure as the ones who get to whore themselves in brothels."

This was the village hidden in the leaves? Filled with people and ninja who had sexual relations for money and went behind their spouses backs? I may not know much about the outside world but I did know about marriage, since some of the scientists and ninja at the lab were married; I also understood that sex was something you did with a partner for pleasure and occasionally, for kids. The woman smirked one more time in amusement before adjusting her kimono and waltzing away to the main street. Glancing over her shoulder she gave me a wink and disappeared around the bend.

Thunder rumbled overhead and glancing up I noticed how cloudy the sky had gotten. _'Shelter. I need to find shelter.'_ With a goal in mind I ran down another side street and saw a sliding door of a giant house still open. Peering in the room, I noted that there was laundry folded by a washing machine and some towels and work kimono's stacked on the shelves. Not a moment after I closed the sliding door the sky broke and a rainstorm fell. 'Rain' was another new thing to me, I got the theory behind it but still, it was very different up close. Crouching behind the washing machine, I used my tattered coat as a pillow and prepared myself for a long restless night of sleep.


	6. Parasitic Plant

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime.

**Parasitic Plant - A plant which lives on, and acquires it's nutrients from another plant. This often results in declined vigor or death of the host plant.**

Note: This work is not beta-ed. Please excuse any grammar mistakes.

EDITED!

Shout out to Maeweather: She told me of my mix up between geishas and Oirans. Thank you for pointing that out! I appreciate it.

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Chapter 5

My sleep was interrupted by a series of light footsteps getting closer and closer to the room. From the sound and rhythm of the steps it must be someone very short and very light.

_'__... A child?'_ Ripping my eyes open I grabbed my coat and jumped up the corner walls next to the door, making my arms and legs support my weight. Chakra was impossible for me to access at the moment and there were too many ninja in the area to try. The door slide open and a young girl of maybe 9-10 walked in and began to fill the laundry basket with dry folded kimono's and towels. My coat was pushed against the wall by my hand and the stray ripped strands were being held between my teeth. My heart was pounding as my sweat was slowly sliding down my face; the last thing I needed was for them to catch the attention of the girl.

"Sayo-chan! Did you get the laundry yet? Mother is gonna be furious if you don't give the girls there clean clothes before the customers arrive!"

"Coming sister!" As the young girl was turning around I threw myself to the other corner of the room and squeezed in between a couple of empty baskets at the top shelf.

_'__Siighhhh… I need to get out of here fast. Hopefully the rain has stopped.' _

The girl took about 3 more minutes to get everything in order before I felt it was safe enough to climb down.

Making my way down the wall I put on my coat and slid the back door a little bit before closing it shut. There were ninja's patrolling the rooftops outside! I couldn't go out that way! My mind suddenly started thinking of all the different things that they would do to me if they caught me and found out who I was and who had experimented on my body. My heartbeat began to speed up and I could feel myself start to loose focus of the world around me; my breathing was harsh and I could feel my chakra start to fluctuate again. I could feel the vines and leaves squirming to the surface under my skin, pushing to break through and cover my body again.

_'__NO! I will NOT lose control again!'_ During my attempts of calming down I failed to hear the loud, heavy steps getting closer and closer to the room I was in. When I felt I had a good enough grip on my chakra to try and peek through the back door again, the door behind me suddenly slammed open.

_'__What?!_' Twisting around in shock, I stared paralyzed at an older woman with stern eyes and a frowning painted mouth. Her hair was immaculate and intricately decorated with hairpins and combs while her face, painted with makeup, still revealed age lines, though there were signs of her being once a great beauty. Her kimono was elaborate and rich, made from obviously good material; far better than the one the alley way woman had worn.

_'__How?! Was I so focused on my chakra that I did not notice her footsteps?! What an amateur mistake!'_

"Thought you escaped huh? Well I'm afraid you're no match for me child. This brothel caters mostly to ninja so I have learned to be quite skilled in using the little chakra I have access to, regardless of being a civilian. Now explain yourself! What are you doing in my brothel?!"

My two first instincts were to either kill her immediately and hide the body or to jump out the door and get the heck out of here, but if what she said about catering to shinobi was true then either option would just gain unnecessary attention of the ones near by.

"It was raining and I saw this door partially open. I decided to use this place as shelter until the rain stopped. Forgive me, I meant no disrespect."

Her stare bore into my eyes before glancing at the rest of my face. Pity seemed to seep into the corners of her eyes and mouth, something I was starting to think was going to become a habit with the people in this place.

Peeking from behind her was the young girl that had awoken me and an older looking young girl. They had half fascinated half pitying stares and kept glancing at my arms, legs and face; seeming unable to pick a spot to stare at.

"...What an unfortunate face you have there. If you've come for a place to work then I'm afraid you would not be what our clients would be looking for. And I won't be wasting my time with worthless attendants that won't bring in customers later in life."

"Mother, I don't think she would look that bad if we painted her entire face white. We could sell her to the house down the street, you know the one that's filled with _hangyoku_!" A cheerful smile broke her face as she grew more and more excited with the prospect of me joining the household.

"...SELL me?...and what on earth is a Ha-hangyoku" This place really was a mad house, less than 10 minutes had gone by in this conversation and they were already talking about me like I was an object to be sold and bartered with, along with calling me strange names. I had never heard of the word before, but to be honest I didn't know much things that didn't relate to being a good weapon. This village wasn't anything that I had imagined it to be, and not for the better. I was ,tired, confused and hungry; all I wanted at that moment was just to go somewhere safe to properly rest. Being seen as a possession to be sold, on top of being called strange names was the last thing I wanted to hear; but if nothing else then at least I wanted to know what I was being called. Knowledge is power, this is something that had been ingrained into my mind since the moment I had woken up.

The girl called Sayo smiled at me before explaining in a loud, cheerful voice, " Its what we call young girls who are bounded to a geisha house and begin their training as geisha! And if you painted your face you would look just like them! They get lots of benefits and are really close by so you could come and visit if you want."

"Enough! Regardless of her face, I am not looking for any more attendants this year nor am I looking to give another girl to the geisha house! Now leave! I have workers and daughters to feed and freshen up for the start of the day!" Her tone was harsh but the pity shown true in her eyes; was my face really that ugly that even when kicking me out she still looked at me with those eyes?

"What's all this ruckus about?" A new voice joined the fray as a beautiful, elegantly dressed woman wandered to the older woman's side, "Oh! Mother did we get a new attendant? Poor thing looks hungry and... oh my! What an unfortunate face! You could almost be cute if it wasn't for that horrible mix mash of skin tones!"

Sigh. I was getting sick of hearing about how 'unfortunate' my face was. Narrowing my eyes, I turned around and decided to leave this mad house before I saw any more people with pity in their eyes glance at me. I didn't want their pity nor did I need it; I wasn't weak to deserve such a thing. Not to mention beauty was nothing of value to me, the scientists and other ninja had reinforced the idea of power and knowledge being the most important thing. The ability to understand and see the world for what it was and the power to change it, that's all that ever mattered to my guardians.

"Wait." The 'mother' called me back as I stepped through the back door. Glancing over my shoulder I wondered what on earth she would want to tell me now. Her eyes were still filled with pity and ...was that respect?

"...Breakfast is being served right now. I'm sure there will be leftovers like yesterday. You can have some before leaving." The older woman must have caught my offended face, because her mouth gave me a wry grin and her eyes softened to something slightly amused. "Don't start with your rant about not needing food, and get over your pride. Your face is pitiful and in this world if someone offers you food you accept it regardless of how much it may sting your pride. We all must do our part to survive, so consider this the only act of kindness I will ever show you."

* * *

Sitting in a room full of half dressed prostitutes as they ate breakfast was not something I had ever seen myself doing. What was really starting to tick me off was all those glances of pity they gave me before continuing their breakfast and conversations. The current topic was who were their favourite clients and which ones they hoped would one day decide to marry them and make them their wives. The madam of the brothel seemed to be both amused and exasperated by their ramblings as she finished her own breakfast.

"Chiba-kun is an amazing lover! I've catered to him 6 times this last two months! Perhaps I can seduce him into marrying me?"

"Hehe. Really Sei? An Inuzuka for a husband? You would end up with two husbands since his partner sure isn't gonna leave the house just cause you'd move in! Not to mention I hear they are barely civilized at all!"

"Let her have her dreams Asano! Its good to hope! Isn't it Miyuki?"

A sudden hush filled the room and all the women around me looked at a beautiful woman by the porch. She was clearly the fairest of them all, with her gorgeous coloured outfit and her perfect heart shaped face, resting on an elegant neck and a graceful figure. Her eyes were cold though...eyes filled with bitterness and despair. I knew those eyes.

"Heh. I'm sure Chiba-san is a good man, however in my experience good men don't marry women like us." A bitter smile crossed her face, making the mother of the house give her a pitying glance.

"But... Chiba-san is a ninja! He could accept me, regardless of my profession! And I can accept him!" Sae-san seemed to be getting worked up about this topic, but I honestly couldn't understand why.

"I hope you aren't confusing lust and a need for release for love Sae-chan. Ninja's don't care about us like the rest of the civilians in this village. We are the necessary evil who bring in more income, help their elite forget their woes, pass important information to the right ears and teach their little baby ninja how to pleasure a woman or man. Other than that we serve no other purpose in this village." Her eyes met mine and for once I didn't see pity in them.

"You are both very lucky and unlucky little girl, people who aren't beautiful have a higher chance of being something other than pretty things to hang on someone's arm. However that does automatically take away a natural advantage, if you learn nothing else in your life, remember at least this: Women have three advantages in this world, her looks, her wit and what's between her legs. You still can make it with only two out of the three, but should you ever lose another advantage...well, those kind of women don't last long."

"...What if you have power? If you have power and intelligence you don't need the other two." Looks didn't give you a kekkei genkai or work as a genjutsu, not to mention how easy it is to ruin a look. As for what's between my legs...I don't think that will ever help me get my goals at all, so another worthless 'advantage'. Knowledge and Power changes the world. Knowledge and Power will get me my sibling and leave this wretched place.

A low chuckle broke my thoughts as Miyuki started speaking again.

"I am a tayu, little girl. I have had nobles and elite ninja between my legs, and all of them have underestimated me because of it and my looks. The weaker you appear the more power you stand to gain, and trust me, if you want to survive in this world you are going have to sacrifice everything you've got." Sauntering up, she gave me and the rest of the girls a graceful bow and quietly left the room.

The Madam Mother glanced at me before deciding to impart her little wisdom as well.

"She may be bitter but what she told you girls wasn't a lie either. Perhaps some of you may be lucky enough to gain a husband but you must steel your hearts to the notion that it might not come to pass. Good, honest men do not marry women like us, we would just be trading one life of servitude for another, anyway. Men use us and throw us away after they have taken everything about us that attracted to them. They pit us against one another and then turn around to say that they want a good woman to be their wives. We are not 'good women', we are survivors. 'Good' women are nobles and virgin girls from their home village. If you get a husband, expect him to be shrewd, and having an agenda, whether that is the sex he gets out of you or something else. Nothing worth having in this world is free, and most of you will soon realize that sometimes no matter how hard you try, life will not be fair or kind."

Signalling the attendants to start cleaning up, she shooed the girls to their 'work rooms' and left the porch door open.

Checking around for any chakra signatures, I started to walk away from the brothel house. The outside world was sure more complicated than I had ever thought, but even so, I knew in my heart that I still had a duty to find my sibling.

_'__Wait for me. I'm coming.'_


	7. Air Layering

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime.

**Air layering - A specialized method of plant propagation accomplished by cutting into the bark of the plant to induce new roots to form.**

* * *

Chapter 6

This might not come as too much a surprise but, stealing food has never been a strange thing for me. While we were fed very well under the scientists careful eyes, a common punishment for failure was withholding food and water for a period of time. Not only was it used as punishment but also as a form of training for missions where there would be very little food and water available. Therefore it wasn't really uncommon for us to steal from each other whenever we felt the need was great enough, teamwork was only a means to an end after all and sacrificing your teammate for the success of the mission was a common enough endeavor.

It was still pretty early in the morning, lots of houses and shops either just opening or in some cases, only starting to close. Stealing fruit and bread from markets as the owners were distracted was just too easy. While ducking around corners and alleyways I noticed the patrols around this area of the village were heavily under the careful eye of ninja with similar facial features and the uchiwa(Uchiha?) fan on their uniforms. I had heard Talho-san gush about the "hotness" and "epic coolness" the men of this clan possessed. She would always rant how she wanted to experiment on their "eyes" and see if it could be replicated... or maybe her rant was about how she wanted to "bag one as a boyfriend"...? I can't really remember anymore; either way this clan always seemed to make the females at the lab, with the occasional male, act weird.

After carefully observing some of them for an hour or two I noticed that they seemed to be most cautious about a series of random buildings on certain streets. Shady characters seemed to enter and exit these shops and were quickly shadowed by some of uchiwa fan ninja. They would even follow some drained looking men and women who picked up some bags these shady characters dropped by garbage cans.

Avoiding them, I continued exploring my surroundings when I suddenly found myself in front of a large gate that seemed to open to a completely different village.

_'...is this village split in two?'_

Hidden ninja creeped from shadowed corners and at least 1 visible uchiwa fan ninja stood near by the gate. I didn't dare get any closer; for fear that they might get interested me. Casually turning away I started to follow the wall that seemed to separate the two parts of the village, all of them having patrols and hidden ninja at each mini-gate. There were no chinks in this armour at all. Glancing through the different mini gates and peeking over the wall whenever possible, a whole different village seemed to reside behind this wall.

'The clothes are different, and the people seem more genuinely friendly. The kids look clean and there seems to be so much life in that half. Is this the side of the village that Talho-san sacrificed so much for? The one that I was supposed to improve with my death?'

Leaning against the wall, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the conversations that were occurring on the other side.

"Did you hear about Miwako's son? He went missing during his solo patrol route the other day! That makes the fifth disappearance on a solo patrol this month!"

"10% off for all summer kimono's! New children's patterns also being sold!"

"That's not all. I heard the clans are missing some ninja too. Some vanished after leaving pubs or doing solo missions as well."

"Promoting our new flavoured tea and dango! Would you like a sample sir?"

"So scary! Do you think one of the other villages is behind this? "

"Fresh Fish! Get your Fresh fish!"

"I hope not, the war just ended!"

"Book sale this weekend! Remember that donations are going towards the Konoha Orphan's fund."

"They say that Orochimaru-sama has been spotted in the same areas as these disappearances. Do you think he's trying to hunt down who keeps taking them?"

"I can't believe the Fourth Kage is going to be Namikaze-sama! What are you going to wear for the ceremony Mai?"

"I hope they catch them soon."

"So then I told her, 'You can't date him! Chiba-kun already has a girlfriend!' and she said, 'That doesn't stop him from sleeping with other girls, right?'. She is such a slut."

"We've been getting more and more requests to update the security around the orphanages these last couple of years."

"That must be because of all those children going missing a couple of years ago. I wonder what happened to them?"

"Poor Ume, I hope she feels better soon. Maybe a bug is going around? "

Taking a deep breath I opened my eyes and stepped away from the wall. Too much, it's all just too much. I can't get out of this sector, there are ninja everywhere, HE is continuing his experimentations; and I now have confirmation that I was definitely an orphan before he took me. This all really is just way too much. The itching feeling under my skin started to spread, and I really need to get out of here.

Shakily making my way to the forest path that I had first taken when I escaped the lab, I leant against a tree and tried to calm my breathing and mind. No wonder we were taught that emotions were unnecessary for ninja, they over complicate everything and leave me feeling so drained and faint after these "episodes". I need to use my training and strategize on what I'm going to do next.

_'Failure is not an option.'_

* * *

Renting a small room above a sex shop proved to be easy enough for the right price. Pickpocketing a couple of people over a large area gave me enough money to also get some new clothes. Plain, boring, cheap clothes, but all mine and using a stolen needle and thread, made these cloths completely fixable for making movement less constrained and adjusting the length of the sleeves and hems. Make up was also something I had make sure to get my hands on as quickly as possible, if I wanted to blend in as much as I can in this village.

Turning off the water, I ignored picking up a towel and wandered back to my temporary bedroom to look into the mirror.

**Drip. Splat. Drip. Splat. Drip. Splat.**

Gazing at my naked self, I started to categorize what other changes I could find on my body. The white parts of my skin had luckily not grown much, but my stomach and midriff worried me. My skin was several shades lighter and outlining where the vines used to press against my skin on the "normal" looking parts of my body. This definitely isn't a good sign...I think I'm getting tired of all these changes; I hate how I feel like stranger in my own skin.

Releasing a heavy sigh, I looked into the mirror again and tried to look at myself through the eyes of the prostitutes who I recently met. The more I look what others around me think I should look like the better it will be for me to fade into the background. Being unique is a sure way to get you killed, but a plain person will be forgotten immediately; this is was something that had been beaten into my head during training in the past. So following that advice I grabbed the stolen makeup, my new clothes and a kitchen knife from the cook downstairs.

"Let's see... I should give myself a boring haircut; this current raggedy one is too long and noticeable if I want to explore the "other side". Hmmmm."

**Snip. Snip. Snip. Snip. Snip.**

Running my hands through my nice, clean dark hair felt really good. I could feel myself becoming lighter and lighter, the more I cut my hair off, it had been a while since I felt this calm. Finishing trimming my new bangs I inspected my new boyish bob hairstyle.

"Okay, my hair is all set, now for my skin…" Grabbing the jar of concealer the same skin tone as my "regular skin", I applied it on my face and neck, making sure to even it all out and make it look as "natural" as possible. Cleaning my fingers, I got my now mended, brown pants and faded green turtle neck on before slipping on some second hand flats and gloves.

"There. That doesn't look so bad. A quick nap and a bit more 'shopping' later before I try to find where my sibling could have escaped to."

Lying on my lumpy bed, I closed my eyes and tried to solely focus on the rushing of my chakra flowing through my body. Like water ...so strong...and... pure.

* * *

_A grassy field was before me, the rushing of the wind pushing the long grass back and forth, making a soothing swoosh sound. Like a yellow and green sea it spread across the __horizon,__ under the sky blue sky. My feet were buried in the cool dirt and the sun rained down its warmth on my hair and face. _

**_Grow_**

_'__?...who said that?'_

**_GROW_**

_Vines burst from the ground and wrapped around my legs and torso. They pushed me upwards and everywhere they touched my skin more vines and leaves would burst from my body. Twigs were coming out of my hair and leaves covering my face._

_'__I'M TURNING INTO A TREE!'_

_Everywhere around me more and more trees were sprouting across __the field.__ A huge vine __snaked__ up to my face and coiled around my neck. It started to tighten around it, squeezing tighter and tighter._

_'__I...can't….b..r..e..a..t….h..'_

* * *

Bolting up from my bed, I gasped for air as I noticed all the wooden furniture in my room sprouting branches, the floor growing grass and flowers, while those darn vines had ripped through my skin and had managed to tie me down to my bed. At least this time my clothes weren't ruined.

Things are really getting out of hand.


End file.
